About Us

Christiana Alexakis

Christiana Alexakis is a freelance writer, born and raised on Gadigal country in Sydney, Australia. As a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School, she covers religion, climate and culture. Christiana holds bachelor’s degrees in arts and law from the University of Sydney, where she majored in religion. You can find her words in The Glass Magazine, The Delacorte Review, Columbia News Service and Where the Leaves Fall.

Jake Angelo

Jake Angelo is a freelance journalist and graduate student at Columbia Journalism School. He is a producer at 1010 WINS and previously worked at WCBS 880. As an undergraduate student at Boston College, he directed a documentary focused on human rights abuses in Poland as part of his international studies and film degree. His reporting covers politics, housing policy and healthcare, with work featured in Gay Times, Columbia News Service, Uncloseted Media and ONLYCHILD Magazine.

Dana Binfet

Dana Binfet is a freelance journalist and graduate student at Columbia Journalism School, covering the intersection of arts, culture and social justice. She is the co-president of Columbia’s Women in Media affiliate group planning panels, moderating events and leading 100 student journalists. Prior to studying at Columbia, Dana received a degree in English literature from UCLA. While in undergrad, Dana worked as an intern at KCRW, a Southern California NPR affiliate station, and wrote for the Daily Bruin on the arts & entertainment beat.

Bella Bromberg

Bella Bromberg is a freelance writer and master’s student at Columbia Journalism School. She interns for The Moth, a storytelling nonprofit, and edits poetry submissions for The Plentitudes, a quarterly literary journal. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, where she studied English and Spanish. Her words appear in Business Insider, The Observer, Columbia News Service, The Columbia Daily Spectator and Gadfly Magazine.

Rosario del Valle

Rosario del Valle is a journalist and a master’s student at Columbia Journalism School. She has three years of experience as a producer at Radio Pauta, a Chilean station specializing in political and economic analysis. Previously, she worked as a freelance community manager for Elemental Podcast, a Chilean podcast focused on nonfiction books. Rosario holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and social communication from Universidad de Los Andes. She is currently based in New York City, covering religion and community issues.

Hayley Duffy

Hayley Duffy is a freelance writer pursuing a master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School. She is interested in covering the environment, climate change, the renewable energy transition, and climate mitigation and geoengineering experiments. After graduating from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in history, she worked for Oprah Daily, a publication under the Hearst Magazines umbrella, and as a staff reporter for The Martha’s Vineyard Times in Massachusetts.

Lauren Hartley

Lauren Hartley is a freelance journalist and student at Columbia Journalism School, covering the New York City metro area. She graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with majors in communications and Spanish. Lauren is a regular contributor to the Park Slope Reader, and her work has also appeared in Bushwick Daily and Columbia News Service.

Abbie Hopson

Abbie Hopson is a freelance journalist and master’s student at Columbia Journalism School. Her focus is on covering social issues, history, and arts and culture. She is a graduate of Liberty University, where she studied Spanish and psychology with a minor in English. Apart from her part-time degree, she also works in the New York City public and charter school systems. Her experience includes education, science writing, creative writing and research, and her first journalistic publication appears in the New York Amsterdam News.

Laine Immell

Laine Immell is a documentary filmmaker, journalist and graduate student at Columbia Journalism School. She is currently a fellow for the duPont-Columbia Awards, and has been a photographer/video editor for the PHL17 Morning News, and a freelance writer for the online journal Offscreen. She graduated with a bachelor’s in film, media and arts from Temple University with a concentration in documentary directing. Laine is currently based in New York City, where she covers religion, climate and immigration issues.

Karen Lindell

Karen Lindell is a writer and editor working toward her M.A. degree at Columbia Journalism School with a concentration in arts and culture. She has been a staff reporter and editor for L.A. Parent magazine, the Ventura County Star newspaper and Ranker.com; and a freelance reporter and editor for Slate, the Los Angeles Times, Ojai Magazine, the American Library Association, Culturebot, the Young Musicians Foundation and various California universities. She is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s University in California, where she majored in English. 

Liza Monasebian

Liza Monasebian is a multimedia journalist and broadcast news producer from New York. She is a part-time master’s student at Columbia Journalism School and works full time at CBS News Sunday Morning. She completed her undergraduate education at the University of Southern California, where she double majored in journalism and law, history and culture with a minor in musical studies.

Nichole Villegas

Nichole Villegas is an award-winning journalist for her work at Ke Alaka’i magazine in Hawaii and a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School. She interned for Hawaii Business Magazine in Honolulu and worked full time as a writer and photographer for the Daily Herald in Utah.  She completed her undergraduate degree in communications, media and culture at Brigham Young University–Hawaii. Nichole is based in New York City, focusing her work on immigration, mental health, human rights and women’s access to healthcare.

Ari L. Goldman

Professor Ari L. Goldman, a former religion correspondent for The New York Times, has been teaching the Covering Religion seminar at Columbia Journalism School since 1993. This year’s study-tour is the 20th he’s led with Columbia students. In past years, the class has gone to Russia and Ukraine, Ireland and Northern Ireland, India and Italy. Professor Goldman was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was educated at Yeshiva University, Columbia and Harvard. He is the author of four books, including the bestselling “The Search for God at Harvard.”

Melanie Huff

Melanie Huff is the senior associate dean of students at Columbia Journalism School. This is her fifth time accompanying the Covering Religion class on its annual study tour. She has been to India, Ireland, Jordan, Israel and Palestine with the class. Dean Huff has degrees from Barnard College and Teachers College, both of Columbia University.

Liz Donovan

Adjunct professor Liz Donovan is an investigative reporter whose work has been featured in The New York Times, the Intercept, THE CITY, Type Investigations and AFP. She most recently worked as an investigative researcher for The New Yorker staff writer Ronan Farrow. She previously reported on climate at NYC outlet City Limits and on immigration and gender for Columbia’s Global Migration Project, and has taught writing and editing at the School of The New York Times. She has master’s degrees from Columbia Journalism School and Sciences Po in Paris, France. Twitter: @LizDonov.